Canadian Senate moves to end postal shutdown (Reuters)

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadians could begin receiving mail again within two days after the Senate on Sunday endorsed back-to-work legislation ending the labor dispute that shut down the postal service.

The Senate held a rare weekend session to approve the government measure that was passed by the House of Commons on Saturday after a 58-hour filibuster by opposition MPs who said the bill was unfair to the workers.

Canada Post locked out the nearly 48,000 workers June 15 after more than a week of rotating strikes that the company said had caused mail deliveries to drop by nearly 50 percent.

The Conservative government said it had no choice but to intervene because contract negotiations between the company and union had failed, and a prolonged dispute posed a threat to the national economy.

Mail deliveries could resume Tuesday, officials said.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said its members will return to work as ordered, but warned that the order does not resolve the issues that lead to the dispute. It may challenge the legislation in court.

In addition to wages and pensions, the company and union are at odds over how the system should adjust to technological changes that seen customers drop traditional mail in favor of writing emails and using the Internet to pay bills.

The legislation provides for an arbitrator to pick between the offers made by the union or Canada Post, but it includes a controversial measure that sets the pay increase at less than the company had already offered the union.

If the arbitrator accepts Canada Post's offer, the company would also be allowed to offer new hires lower salaries, pensions and vacations than its existing workers now get.

(Reporting Allan Dowd, editing by Anthony Boadle)

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Woman found in Nevada wilderness moved to Canadian hospital

Rita Chretien was rescued last week after being stranded for 49 days. Authorities are still searching for husband Albert.Rita and her husband Albert Chretien got lost in the Nevada wilderness March 19
She was found on Friday, 49 days later
Her husband is still missing

(CNN) -- The Canadian woman who was rescued last week after being stranded and alone for 49 days in a Nevada wilderness has transferred from an Idaho hospital to one in her home country, a hospital statement said early Wednesday.

Rita Chretien, 56, was transported Tuesday afternoon from St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls to a British Columbia hospital, according to the medical center. She was upgraded to good from fair condition earlier in the day.

"She is enjoying solid foods and had a dinner of salmon, rice and green beans last night," a hospital statement said Tuesday. "This morning she had a breakfast burrito with homemade salsa. A 'bowl of soul' coffee was brought to her from a local coffee house. It included a sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg and a dollop of whipped cream, which Rita said was delicious."

Doctors said the indicators of her recovery are "very good," the statement said.

Meanwhile, authorities are still searching for her husband, Raymond, who left his wife in their van on March 22 so that he could find help.

Scores of men and women had searched for the Chretiens since the Penticton, British Columbia, residents were last seen March 19 leaving a Shell gas station convenience store in Baker City, Oregon.

On Friday, more than a month later, hunters wandered into the area where the van was sitting.

Rita Chretien shot up from her spot in the 2000 Chevrolet Astro's back seat when she heard them outside, mustered strength to open the door and stepped out shoeless. She waved.

While the odds are dwindling that Albert Chretien will be found alive, authorities haven't ruled it out.

Rita Chretien lived off the little food she had -- beef jerky, some trail mix, fish oil pills and one piece of hard candy per day. She went outside for a walk once a day, using the sunlight to melt snow for drinking water and going to a nearby stream.

She read a few books (some several times) and the Bible and recorded her thoughts in a journal.

The Chretiens were en route to a trade show convention in Las Vegas when they turned off the highway onto a forest service road that led into Nevada, intending to enjoy the "scenic route," her son said, who'd heard the full story from his weakened mother.

The couple took some wrong turns and had thought, based on their map, that their road was better than it was. Pictures released by the sheriff's department show the van in an extremely remote area with no visible roads.

The van was stuck in caked mud, with a shovel pictured near the back of the van, indicating that someone had been trying to free the vehicle from the mud.

CNN's Michael Martinez contributed to this story.

CNN

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Canadian woman found in stranded van after 49 days

(CNN) -- For 49 days, Rita Chretien waited for a miracle.

Her husband had ventured off to get help three days after their minivan got stranded off-road in the cold, untamed Nevada wilderness.

That left Rita alone without much beyond some hard candy, a long-ago emptied bag of trail mix, some books and the clothes she'd packed for her trip to Las Vegas. Plus, according to her son Raymond Chretien, she always had faith.

Scores of men and women had searched for Rita and her husband Albert Chretien, since the Penticton, British Columbia, residents were last seen March 19 leaving a Shell gas station convenience store in Baker City, Oregon.

On Friday, hunters wandered into the remote territory near where Oregon, Idaho and Nevada meet.

Rita Chretien shot up from her spot in the 2000 Chevrolet Astro's backseat when she heard them outside, mustered her lingering strength to open the door and step out shoeless. She waved.

Three days later, she was resting comfortably in an Idaho hospital, spending Mother's Day with her children.

"Right now, we're just celebrating," said her son, Raymond, on Sunday.

Even the doctor who oversaw Chretien's care at St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls, Idaho, acknowledged it was not easy to explain how a 56-year-old woman could have such a positive prognosis and demeanor given what she'd gone through.

"In this case, for a person with suboptimal nutrition to survive so long -- let's just say that it is understandable to call it a miracle," Dr. James Westberry told reporters Sunday.

The search, meanwhile, continues for Albert Chretien.

While rainy and overcast weather forced authorities to call off the first day's air search, Corp. Dan Moskaluk of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Saturday that a search dog and about 20 people, riding 6 to 8 ATVs and four-wheel drive vehicles are on the case.

While the odds are dwindling that Albert Chretien will be found alive, authorities certainly are not ruling it out, said the police spokesman.

"Neither family nor investigators would have thought that we'd be reporting after seven weeks of actually finding somebody alive," said Moskaluk. "Until we know exactly what happened to Al, it remains a mystery."

Rita and Albert Chretian were together when, after their stop in Baker City (recorded on the store's surveillance tape), they turned off the highway onto a forest service road that led into Nevada.

They were en route to a trade show convention in Las Vegas, but veered off to enjoy the "scenic route," said her son, who'd heard the full story from his ailing mother.

The couple took some wrong turns and had thought, based on their map, that their road was better than it was.

Then, about 20 miles from the highway, "apparently the road conditions ... degraded quite drastically," said Moskaluk, the police spokesman.

By the time darkness fell, the minivan succumbed to the combination of snow and mud, unable to move.

On March 22, Albert Chretien left the van, setting off to get help. His wife, who Raymond Chretien said is "not an outdoorsy type of person," remained behind.

Rita Chretian rationed the little food available -- a beef jerky, some trail mix, fish oil pills, and one piece of hard candy per day. She'd go outside for a walk once a day, using the sunlight to melt snow for drinking water and going to a nearby stream.

In the meantime, she had plenty of time to read a few books (some multiple times), the Bible and record her thoughts and adventures in a journal.

"She did it because she didn't know the outcome of this," her son said, adding that he had not yet read the journal. "It was intended to sort of tell the story what happened over (those) days."

All the while, Rita Chretien got weaker, losing 20 to 30 pounds, according to Moskaluk.

Her son said that, in her last few days in the wild, she'd come to peace with the sense that her time was dwindling. She penciled May 6 as a critical day in her mind: -- either she'd be rescued or she'd die.

"She definitely had hope. But of course, just like us, every day goes by, you start preparing yourself for both options," her son said. "So she was prepared for either."

After her discovery, Rita Chretien was airlifted to the Idaho hospital.

There, doctors worked first to address her starvation and dehydration, then to build up her ability to eat meals again and gain strength.

By Sunday, Dr. Westberry said he still hadn't seen her walk, but said there were no indications of long-term problems and that her prognosis was good. Her spirits and evident desire to live, he said, were even better.

"It is unusual for us to see someone in this type of situation to actually not only survive, but to be doing so well at this time," said Westberry. "She obviously had the mindset of survival, and that must have been something that helped her go as long as she did."

For her son, the best thing was how little his mother had changed after her ordeal. She laughed just the same, and was just as warm, genuine and caring as she'd always been, he said.

"I would have hardly known anything had happened to her," he said. "It was just beyond belief. It's just her. It's amazing."

CNN's Greg Botelho and Rick Martin contributed to this report.

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